Package distinguishing system

ABSTRACT

A system for distinguishing a package includes a plurality of identifiers, where at least one of the identifiers is intentionally non-functional. The system also includes an identifier indicator that indicates the identity of the at least one of the identifiers that is intentionally non-functional. In addition, the identifier indicator is stored on at least one of the package and a database and is accessible by a user to authenticate the package.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/125,559, entitled “Seal Method andSystem for Packages”, by Geoff M. Lyon et al., filed May 10, 2005, isrelated to present application and is incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

BACKGROUND

Products sold to customers are often sent through a series ofintermediate points between the original source, such as a manufacturer,and the customers, who may buy the products from a retailer. Productsmay include food items, pharmaceutical drugs or other products,including products of manufacture. These products may be sold to acustomer through a grocery store, a pharmacy, a department store orother type of retailer.

Counterfeited products may enter the supply chain to the customer at anynumber of different points in the supply chain. For example, awholesaler may receive counterfeit goods which it passes on to aretailer, or directly to the customer.

Because of the possibility of spoofing, wherein a counterfeiter copiesthe packaging of the product, manufacturers often attempt to prevententry of counterfeit products into the marketplace by protecting thepackages. Some approaches that manufacturers have used to make itdifficult for counterfeiters include the use of holograms or threedimensional printing on packages. For example, a hologram of a company'slogo is placed on a package so a customer buying the product knows thatthe product is from the company and is not counterfeit. These approachesprovide some deterrence; however, counterfeiting has become verysophisticated so that it is has become more difficult for manufacturersto provide product packaging that cannot be relatively easily replicatedby counterfeiters of the product.

SUMMARY

A system for distinguishing a package is disclosed herein. The systemincludes a plurality of identifiers, where at least one of theidentifiers is intentionally non-functional. The system also includes anidentifier indicator that indicates the identity of the at least one ofthe identifiers that is intentionally non-functional. In addition, theidentifier indicator is stored on at least one of the package and adatabase and is accessible by a user to authenticate the package.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Features of the present invention will become apparent to those skilledin the art from the following description with reference to the figures,in which:

FIG. 1A illustrates a perspective view of a simplified example of apackage that may be authenticated according to an embodiment of theinvention.

FIG. 1B illustrates a simplified example of data flow in a system forproviding a package that may be authenticated according to an embodimentof the invention.

FIG. 1C shows a simplified example of data flow in a system fordetermining the authenticity of packages, according to an embodiment ofthe invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a simplified example of a system through which theauthenticity of a package may be determined, according to an embodimentof the invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates a simplified example of supply chain for the sale ofpharmaceutical products, according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 4 illustrates a flow diagram of a method for distinguishing apackage, according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 illustrates a flow diagram of a method for authenticating apackage having identifiers, according to an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram illustrating a computer system operable toperform the methods depicted in FIGS. 4 and 5, according to anembodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

For simplicity and illustrative purposes, the principles of theembodiments are described by referring mainly to examples thereof. Inthe following description, numerous specific details are set forth inorder to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. It will beapparent however, to one of ordinary skill in the art, that theembodiments may be practiced without limitation to these specificdetails. In other instances, well known methods and structures have notbeen described in detail so as not to unnecessarily obscure theembodiments.

As disclosed herein, a package may be distinguished from spoofed orotherwise counterfeited packages through use of one or moreintentionally non-functional identifiers. In addition, the identities ofthe one or more intentionally non-functional identifiers may be trackedin an identifier indicator. In this regard, the package may be one orboth of authenticated and tracked based upon a determination of which ofthe identifiers are functional and which of the identifiers arenon-functional.

With reference first to FIG. 1A, there is shown a perspective view of asimplified example of a package 100 which may be authenticated accordingto various examples described herein. The package 100 is generallydepicted as including an outer package 102, which may comprise a palletor other container. A plurality of sub-packages 104-110 are depicted asbeing located within the outer package 102. In addition, a plurality ofitems 112 are depicted as being contained within the sub-packages104-110. In this regard, the package 100 generally represents acontainer within which products, such as, drugs, food items, or othergoods may be transported.

It should be understood that the package 100 represents a generalizedillustration and that the package 100, as depicted, should not beconstrued as limiting examples of the invention in any respect. Itshould also be understood that various examples described herein may beapplied to packages having configurations different than the package 100depicted in FIG. 1. For instance, various examples of the invention maybe applicable to a package 100 that contains fewer elements than thoseshown in FIG. 1, in which, the package 100 may directly contain thedrugs, food items, or other goods in one of the outer package 102, thesub-packages 104-110, or the item 112 without use of the othercontainers.

The package 100 may include a package indicator 114, such as, a serialnumber, a UPC, an RFID tag, etc., that may be used to substantiallyuniquely identify the package 100. The package 100 may also include asystem for distinguishing the package 100, where the system includesidentifiers 116, 118 that may be used to substantially distinguish thepackage 100 from spoofed or otherwise counterfeited packages orproducts. In other words, the identifiers 116, 118 may be used to enableone or both of authentication and tracking of the package 100. In thisregard, one or more of the identifiers 116, 118 may store informationpertaining to the package 100 or the contents of the package 100. Inaddition, the identifiers 116, 118 may store the information in variousmodalities, for instance, a radio frequency identification (RFID)device, a printed circuit, a bar code, a printed ink (such as,ultra-violet, fluorescent, infrared, etc.), and the like.

Although the package indicator 114 and the identifiers 116, 118 havebeen illustrated as being placed on a label 120 of the package 100, oneor more of the package indicator 114 and the identifiers 116, 118 may beplaced on various other locations of the package 100 without departingfrom a scope of the package 100. In addition, although two identifiers116, 118 have been illustrated on the package 100, it should beunderstood that any reasonably suitable number of identifiers 116, 118may be employed to distinguish the package 100. Moreover, it should beunderstood that one or more of the sub-packages 104-110 and the items112 may also include package indicators 114 as well as identifiers 116,118.

As described in greater detail herein below, one or more of theidentifiers 116, 118 may intentionally be made to be non-functional orotherwise inactive. One or more of the identifiers 116, 118 may be madeto be non-functional to make it relatively more difficult for thepackage 100 to be spoofed or otherwise counterfeited. More particularly,for instance, in addition to copying the package 100, a counterfeitermust also be able to determine which of the identifiers 116, 118 isnon-functional to accurately copy the package 100. This requirement addsa relatively significant hurdle for a counterfeiter in attempting toaccurately duplicate the package 100. As such, the selection of which ofthe identifiers 116, 118 are non-functional is another variable indistinguishing the package 100 from spoofed or otherwise counterfeitedpackages or goods.

The manner in which an identifier 116, 118 may intentionally be made tobe non-functional or otherwise inactive may depend upon the identifier116, 118 itself. For instance, if the identifier 116, 118 comprises abarcode, the identifier 116, 118 may be rendered non-functional bymaking the barcode represent nonsensical data. As another example, ifthe identifier 116, 118 comprises an RFID device or a printed circuit,the identifier 116, 118 may be rendered non-functional by causing theidentifier 116, 118 to return no information or false information. As afurther example, if the identifier 116, 118 comprises a printed ink, theidentifier 116, 118 may be rendered non-functional by omitting or addinga chemical reagent to thereby cause a reading of the ink to beinaccurate or missed entirely.

The identification of the one or more identifiers 116, 118 that areintentionally non-functional may be tracked as an identifier indicatorfor use in authenticating or tracking the package 100. In one example,the identification of the intentionally non-functional one or moreidentifiers 116, 118 may be tracked through storage of the identifierindicator in a server system 220 (FIG. 2). A more detailed descriptionof this example is set forth herein below with respect to FIG. 2.

In a second example, an identifier indicator 122 configured to indicatethe identities of the intentionally non-functional one or moreidentifiers 116, 118 may be included on the package 100 itself. Thisidentifier indicator 122 may, for instance, be printed in coded formaton the package 100. By way of example, a patch containing a number ofcolors may be printed on the package 100, where one or more of thecolors printed, the arrangement of the colors, the color sequence, etc.,provides an indication of which of the identifiers 116, 118 isnon-functional. As another example, the location of the identifierindicator 122 on the package 100 may also or alternatively provide anindication as to which of the identifiers 116, 118 is non-functional. Asa further example, the identifier indicator 122 may comprise computerreadable encrypted data configured to be transmitted from the package100.

According to one example, the identifiers 116, 118 of sub-packages104-110 or items 112 housed in the outer package 102 may include thesame sets of functional and non-functional functional identifiers 116,118. Under this example, for instance, all of the sub-packages 104-110may include a functional RFID tag and a non-functional bar code.

According to another example, the identifiers 116, 118 of sub-packages104-110 or items 112 housed in the outer package 102 may includedifferent sets of functional and non-functional identifiers 116, 118. Inthis example, for instance, a sub-package 104 may include a functionalRFID tag and a non-functional bar code; whereas a sub-package 106 mayinclude a non-functional RFID tag and a functional ink mark. Inaddition, the identifier indicator 122 may store information pertainingto which of the identifiers 116, 118 associated with the sub-packages104-110 are functional and which ones are non-functional. In one regard,therefore, the package 100 may be distinguished based upon which of theidentifiers 116, 118 of the sub-packages 104-110 are functional andwhich of the identifiers 116, 118 are not functional.

More particularly, for instance, a record of which of the identifiers116, 118 associated with the sub-packages 104-110 are functional andwhich are non-functional may be included in the identifier indicator122. In addition, the percentage of identifiers 116, 118 that arenon-functional may also be included in the identifier indicator 122. Assuch, a determination of whether the package 100 is authentic may bemade through a determination of whether the percentage ofnon-functioning identifiers 116, 118 associated with a plurality ofsub-packages 104-110 is substantially equal to the percentage ofintentionally non-functioning identifiers 116, 118 included in theidentifier indicator 122.

FIG. 1B illustrates a simplified example of data flow in a system 130for providing a package that may be authenticated according to anexample of the invention. It should be understood that the followingdescription of the product providing system 130 is but one manner of avariety of different manners in which such a system 130 may be operated.In addition, it should be understood that the product providing system130 may include additional components and that some of the componentsdescribed may be removed and/or modified without departing from a scopeof the product providing system 130.

The product providing system 130 is depicted as including amanufacturing module 132, an identifier activation module 134, and anauthentication module 136. The package 100 may be manufactured at themanufacturing module 132 to include a plurality of identifiers 116, 118.The identifiers 116, 118 may be introduced onto the package 100 or alabel 120 of the package 100 in manners consistent with the types ofidentifiers 116, 118 used to distinguish the package 100. Thus, forinstance, if an identifier 116 comprises an ink mark or a barcode, theidentifier 116 may be printed onto the package 100 or the label 120. Asanother example, if the identifier 116 comprises an RFID tag or aprinted circuit, the identifier 116 may be affixed onto the package 100or the label 120 through use of a suitable adhesive.

As shown in FIG. 1B, the manufacturing module 132 may also assign thepackage indicator 114 to the package 100. In addition, the manufacturingmodule 132 may place the package indicator 114 on the package 100.

The product providing system 130 may also include an identifieractivation module 134. The identifier activation module 134 may beimplemented to select which of the identifiers 116, 118 are to befunctional and which of the identifiers 116, 118 are to benon-functional. In performing this function, the identifier activationmodule 134 may perform the functions of introducing the identifiers 116,118 to the package 100 as described above with respect to themanufacturing module 132. In addition, the identifier activation module134 may also track the functional identifiers 116 and the non-functionalidentifiers 118 as an identifier indicator 122.

The tracking of the functional identifiers 116 and the non-functionalidentifiers 118 may be performed in a variety of manners. In a firstinstance, and as shown in FIG. 1B, the identifier indicator 122 may bestored in a database 138, along with the package indicator 114 assignedto that package 100. This correlation may be stored, for instance, inXML language and may be accessible by the authentication module 136 inauthenticating a package 100, as described in greater detail hereinbelow with respect to FIG. 1C.

In addition, identifier indicators 122 of a plurality of packages 100,sub-packages 104-110, or items 112, may be stored in the form of a tablethat indicates which of the identifiers 116, 118 are intentionallyinactive, as shown below in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Package Micro- ID UV RFID processor Infrared Bar Code ForensicXXX0A Inactive Inactive XXX0B Inactive Inactive XXX0C Inactive InactiveXXX0D Inactive Inactive

As shown in Table 1, the packages 100, sub-packages 104-110, or items112, may include a plurality of identifiers 116, 118. In addition, thetable may include a correlation between the package indicators 114 andthe identifiers 116, 118. As shown, the identifiers 116, 118 that havebeen made to be intentionally non-functional are labeled as “inactive”.

In another example, however, the identifier indicator 122 may beincluded on the package 100 or the label 120 itself. As described above,this information may be printed or otherwise stored on the package 100or the label 120.

With reference now to FIG. 1C, there is shown a simplified example ofdata flow in a system 150 for determining the authenticity of packages,according to an example. It should be understood that the followingdescription of the authenticity determining system 150 is but one mannerof a variety of different manners in which such a system 150 may beoperated. In addition, it should be understood that the authenticitydetermining system 150 may include additional components and that someof the components described may be removed and/or modified withoutdeparting from a scope of the authenticity determining system 150.

Generally speaking, the authenticity determining system 150 may beimplemented to determine whether a package 100 is authentic based uponwhich of the identifiers 116, 118 are functional and which of theidentifiers 116, 118 are non-functional. As shown, the authenticitydetermining system 150 may include an identifier reading module 152configured to read the identifiers 116, 118. The identifier readingmodule 152 may comprise any reasonably suitable reading deviceconfigured to read or receive information from the identifiers 116, 118.

The identifier reading module 152 may also be configured to transmit theread identifiers 116, 118 to the authentication module 136. In thisregard, the identifier reading module 152 may form part of the usersystem 230 shown in FIG. 2. In addition, the authentication module 136may be stored as part of the server system 220. The identifier readingmodule 152 may be further configured to read and transmit the packageindicator 114 to the authentication module 136.

The authentication module 136 may determine which of the identifiers116, 118 are functional and which are non-functional. By way of example,if the identifier reading module 152 obtains information from anidentifier 116, 118, the authentication module 136 may determine thatthe identifier 116, 118 is functional. On the other hand, if theidentifier reading module 152 does not obtain information from anidentifier 116, 118, the authentication module 136 may determine thatthe identifier 116, 118 is non-functional. In another example, if theinformation read by the identifier reading module 152 is incorrect orotherwise improper, the authentication module 136 may also determinethat the identifier 116, 118 is non-functional.

The authentication module 136 may also compare the identities of thefunctional and non-functional identifiers 116, 118 to information storedin the database 138. In performing this comparison, the authenticationmodule 136 may access an entry in a table stored in the database 138based upon the identity of the package 100 as derived from the packageindicator 114.

If the identities of the functional and non-functional identifiers 116,118 substantially match the identities of the functional andnon-functional identifiers 116, 118 listed in the table, theauthentication module 136 may output an indication to a destinationoutput 156, such as, a user computer 230, that the package 100 may beauthentic. However, if the identities of the functional andnon-functional identifiers 116, 118 substantially differ from theidentities of the functional and non-functional identifiers 116, 118,the authentication module 136 may output an indication that the package100 may be in authentic.

Communications from the authentication module 136 and the destinationoutput 156 may be performed through facsimile, email, web pages viewablein a web browser, etc. In addition, the authentication module 136 maystore date and time information regarding the inquiry as to whether thepackage 100 is authentic, as well as whether the package 100 was foundto be authentic. This information may be stored in the database 138 andmay be used, for instance, for tracking purposes.

According to another example, where the identities of the functional andnon-functional identifiers 116, 118 are included on the package 100 orlabel 120, various operations of the authentication module 136 may beperformed locally to the package 100. More particularly, for instance,the authentication module 136 may be stored at the user system 230. Inthis regard, the identifier reading module 152 may read the identifierindicator 122 as well as the identifiers 116, 118. In addition, theauthentication module 136 may interpret the identifier indicator 122 todetermine which of the identifiers 116, 118 are supposed to befunctional and which of the identifiers 116, 118 are supposed to benon-functional.

The authentication module 136 may compare this information with adetermination of which of the identifiers 116, 118 are functional andnon-functional to determine whether the package 100 is authentic, asdescribed above. In addition, the authentication module 136 may outputan indication as to whether the package 100 is authentic on the usersystem 230.

With reference now to FIG. 2, there is shown a simplified example of asystem 200 through which the authenticity of a package 100 may bedetermined. The system 200 includes a network 210, a server system 220and a user system 230. The server system 220 and the user system 230 mayinclude any reasonably suitable type of computer system, such as thecomputer system described herein below with reference to FIG. 6. Theserver system 220 may include a network interface including softwareand/or hardware, and serving software (not shown) for communicating withother systems connected to the server system 220 through the network210. The network 210 may include any type of network, including a LAN, aWAN, the Internet, etc.

The server system 220 may include the authentication module 136 and thedatabase 138. The user system 230 may include, for instance, theidentifier reading module 152 and the destination output 156. As such,for instance, the user system 230 may be used to submit identifier 116,118 information to the server system 220 through a website administeredby the server system 220.

The server system 220 may implement the authentication module 136 asdescribed above with respect to FIG. 1C. In addition, the server system220 may transmit a message to the user system 230 indicating that thepackage 100 is authentic or that the package 100 may not be authenticvia the network 210. The message transmitted by the server system 220may include a message sent to a browser of the user system 230, an emailor other type of message, including facsimiles, etc.

The system 200 may be used to authenticate any reasonably suitable typeof product at any point of a supply chain 300 (FIG. 3), from themanufacturer to the customer. In addition, or alternatively, packages100 may be authenticated locally at any point of the supply chain 300through use, for instance, of identifier indicators 122 as describedabove with respect to FIG. 1C.

FIG. 3 illustrates a simplified example of a supply chain 300 for thesale of pharmaceutical (“pharma”) products. As shown in FIG. 3, rawmaterials 310 are received by a pharma manufacturing facility (“PMF”)312. The PMF 312 sends the manufactured pharma products to a wholesaler314 or a repackager/wholesaler 318. The wholesaler 314 may sell thepharma products to institutions 322, such as pharmacies, hospitals,nursing homes or hospices, or retailers 324, which sell the pharmaproducts to individual users 330. The wholesaler 314 may also send someor all of its received pharma products to the repackager/wholesaler 318.

The repackager/wholesaler 318 may sell the pharma products toclosed-door pharmacies 326. The closed door pharmacies 326 may sell thepharma products to institutions 322, such as hospitals, nursing homes orhospices. The PMF 312 may also directly provide pharma products to theclosed-door pharmacies 326.

Problems with counterfeit goods may arise with a network of secondarywholesalers 316. Some of the pharma products received by therepackager/wholesalers 318 or closed-door pharmacies 326 may end up atthe secondary wholesalers 316, who may sell the pharma products athighly discounted prices to retailers 324, such as pharmacies, orwholesalers 314.

Due to the number of entities handling the pharma products as theyprogress through the supply chain 300, pharmacies 324 and institutions322 may receive counterfeit pharma products. For example, secondarywholesalers 316 may receive counterfeit products, which the secondarywholesalers 316 may sell to retailers 324 or wholesalers 314,introducing the counterfeit products into the supply chain 300.Counterfeit pharma products may include, for instance, pharma productsthat have been re-imported into the country from abroad, pharma productsthat have expired (but the expiry dates have been changed on thepackaging), or pharma products not manufactured by the PMF 312 that arepackaged in packaging designed to spoof the packaging of the real pharmaproducts.

The embodiments described herein are not limited for use in apharmaceutical supply chain, and may be used for authenticating anydevice or item that may store or otherwise include a package identifier.

With reference now to FIG. 4, there is shown a flow diagram of a method400 for distinguishing a package 100 according to an example. It is tobe understood that the following description of the method 400 is butone manner of a variety of different manners in which an example of theinvention may be practiced. It should also be apparent to those ofordinary skill in the art that the method 400 represents a generalizedillustration and that other steps may be added or existing steps may beremoved, modified or rearranged without departing from a scope of themethod 400.

The description of the method 400 is made with reference to FIGS. 1A, 1Band 2, and thus makes reference to the elements cited therein. Itshould, however, be understood that the method 400 shown in FIG. 4 isnot limited to being implemented by the elements shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B,and 2 and may be implemented by more, less, or different elements asthose shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B, and 2.

At step 410, identifiers 116, 118 are provided with respect to thepackage 100, where at least one of the identifiers 116, 118 isintentionally non-functional, as described in greater detail hereinabove with respect to FIG. 1B. The at least one of the intentionallynon-functional identifiers 116, 118 is identified in an identifierindicator at step 420. In addition, the identifier indicator is storedat step 430.

As also described herein above, the identifier indicator may be storedin a database 138 of a server system 220. In addition or alternatively,the identifier indicator may be stored in a database of the user system230. As a further example, the identifier indicator may be stored on thepackage 100, such that the identification of the intentionallynon-functional at least one of the identifiers is capable of beingdetermined through information provided from the identifier indicatorlocated on the package 100. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 1A, thepackage 100 may include a plurality of sub-packages 104-110, where thesub-packages 104-110 include respective identifiers, at least one ofwhich is intentionally non-functional.

With reference now to FIG. 5, there is shown a flow diagram of a method500 for authenticating a package 100 having identifiers 116, 118according to an example. It is to be understood that the followingdescription of the method 500 is but one manner of a variety ofdifferent manners in which an example of the invention may be practiced.It should also be apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art thatthe method 500 represents a generalized illustration and that othersteps may be added or existing steps may be removed, modified orrearranged without departing from a scope of the method 500.

The description of the method 500 is made with reference to FIGS. 1A-1Cand 2, and thus makes reference to the elements cited therein. Itshould, however, be understood that the method 500 shown in FIG. 5 isnot limited to being implemented by the elements shown in FIGS. 1A-1Cand 2 and may be implemented by more, less, or different elements asthose shown in FIGS. 1A-1C and 2.

At step 510, the identifiers 116, 118 of the package 100 may be read. Asdescribed above, the identifiers 116, 118 may be read in suitablemanners consistent with the types of identifiers 116, 118 included onthe package 100. Thus, for instance, if the identifiers 116, 118 includea bar code, the identifiers 116, 118 may be read using a bar codescanner. Likewise, if the identifiers 116, 118 include an RFID tag, theidentifiers 116, 118 may be read using an RFID reader.

At step 520, the identities of one or more of the identifiers 116, 118that are intentionally non-functional may be identified from anidentifier indicator. As also described above, the identifier indicatormay provide an indication as to which of the identifiers 116, 118 hasbeen made to be intentionally non-functional. In addition, theidentifier indicator may be stored in a database or the identifierindicator may be stored on the package 100.

The read identifiers may be compared with the identities of the one ormore intentionally non-functional identifiers at step 530. Thiscomparison may be performed, for instance, by an authentication module136 in a server 220. In addition, or alternatively, the comparison maybe performed locally in a user system 230. In any regard, the package100 may be authenticated based upon the comparison of the readidentifiers 116, 118 and the identities of the intentionallynon-functional identifiers 116, 118, as indicated at step 540.

Authentication of the package 100 may also include a outputting ofwhether the package 100 is authentic. More particularly, for instance,an indication that the package 100 may be authentic may be outputted inresponse to the identity of a non-functioning read identifier 116, 118substantially matching the identity of an intentionally non-functionalidentifier 116, 118. In addition, an indication that the package 100 maybe in authentic may be outputted in response to the identity of anon-functioning read identifier 116, 118 substantially differing fromthe identity of an intentionally non-functional identifier 116, 118.

Referring to FIG. 6, and also with reference to FIG. 2, a schematicdiagram of a computer system 600 is shown in accordance with anembodiment. The computer system 600 shown may be used as a server 220 inthe system shown in FIG. 2. The computer system 600 may include one ormore processors, such as processor 602, providing an execution platformfor executing software. The computer system 600 also includes a memory606, which may include Random Access Memory (RAM) where software isresident during runtime. Other types of memory such as ROM (read onlymemory), EPROM (erasable, programmable ROM), EEPROM (electricallyerasable, programmable ROM) and data storage, such as hard disks, etc.,may be used.

A user interfaces with the computer system 600 with one or more inputdevices 618, such as a keyboard, a mouse, a stylus, and the like and adisplay 620. A network interface 630 is provided for communicating withother computer systems. It will be apparent to one of ordinary skill inthe art that FIG. 6 is meant to illustrate a generic computer system.Any type of computer system may be used. Furthermore, one or morecomponents of the components of the computer system 600 are optional,such as the display and input devices, and other types of components maybe used or substituted as is known in the art.

One or more of the steps of the operations shown in FIGS. 4 and 5 may beimplemented as software embedded on a computer readable medium, such asthe memory 606, and executed by the processor 602. The steps may beembodied by a computer program, which may exist in a variety of formsboth active and inactive. For example, there may exist as softwareprogram(s) comprised of program instructions in source code, objectcode, executable code or other formats for performing some of the steps.Any of the above may be embodied on a computer readable medium, whichinclude storage devices and signals, in compressed or uncompressed form.Examples of suitable computer readable storage devices includeconventional computer system RAM (random access memory), ROM (read onlymemory), EPROM (erasable, programmable ROM), EEPROM (electricallyerasable, programmable ROM), and magnetic or optical disks or tapes.Examples of computer readable signals, whether modulated using a carrieror not, are signals that a computer system hosting or running thecomputer program may be configured to access, including signalsdownloaded through the Internet or other networks. Concrete examples ofthe foregoing include distribution of the programs on a CD ROM or viaInternet download. In a sense, the Internet itself, as an abstractentity, is a computer readable medium. The same is true of computernetworks in general. It is therefore to be understood that thosefunctions enumerated herein may be performed by any electronic devicecapable of executing the above-described functions.

It will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that other knownelectronic components may be added or substituted in the computer system600. In addition, the computer system 600 may include a system board orblade used in a rack in a data center, a conventional “white box” serveror computing device, etc. Also, one or more of the components in FIG. 6may be optional (for instance, user input devices, secondary memory,etc.).

What has been described and illustrated herein is an embodiment alongwith some of its variations. The terms, descriptions and figures usedherein are set forth by way of illustration only and are not meant aslimitations. Those skilled in the art will recognize that manyvariations are possible within the spirit and scope of the subjectmatter, which is intended to be defined by the following claims—andtheir equivalents—in which all terms are meant in their broadestreasonable sense unless otherwise indicated.

1. A system for distinguishing a package, said system comprising: aplurality of identifiers for the package, wherein at least one of theplurality of identifiers is intentionally non-functional and visible tothe naked eye, and wherein non-functionality of the at least one of theplurality of identifiers is indistinguishable to the naked eye; and anidentifier indicator that indicates the identity of the at least one ofthe plurality of identifiers that is intentionally non-functional,wherein the identifier indicator is stored on at least one of thepackage and a database, and wherein the identifier indicator isaccessible by a user to authenticate the package.
 2. The systemaccording to claim 1, wherein the plurality of identifiers comprises atleast one of a radio frequency identification device, a printed circuit,a bar code, and an ink mark.
 3. The system according to claim 1, whereinthe identifier indicator comprises a printed mark configured to beinterpreted to identify the at least one of the plurality of identifiersthat is intentionally non-functional.
 4. The system according to claim1, further comprising: a package indicator positioned on the packagethat substantially uniquely identifies the package.
 5. The systemaccording to claim 1, wherein a plurality of the identifiers areintentionally non-functional, wherein a difference between functionaland non-functional identifiers is indistinguishable to the naked eye. 6.The system according to claim 1, wherein the package includes aplurality of sub-packages, and wherein the plurality of identifiers areassociated with respective ones of the sub-packages, to therebydistinguish the package based upon which of the respective plurality ofidentifiers associated with the sub-packages are non-functional.
 7. Amethod for distinguishing a package, the method comprising: providingidentifiers with respect to the package, wherein at least one of theidentifiers is intentionally non-functional and visible to the nakedeye, and wherein non-functionality of the at least one of theidentifiers is indistinguishable to the naked eye; identifying which ofthe identifiers is intentionally non-functional in an identifierindicator; and storing the identifier indicator.
 8. The method accordingto claim 7, wherein providing identifiers further comprises providing aplurality of intentionally non-functional identifiers with respect tothe package.
 9. The method according to claim 7, wherein storing theidentifier indicator further comprises storing the identifier indicatorinn database with a package indicator configured to substantiallyuniquely identify the package.
 10. The method according to claim 7,wherein storing the identifier indicator further comprises storing theidentifier indicator on the package such that the identification of theintentionally non-functional at least one of the identifiers is capableof being determined through information provided from the identifierindicator located on the package.
 11. The method according to claim 7,wherein the package includes a plurality of sub-packages, and whereinproviding identifiers further comprises providing identifiers on theplurality of sub-packages, wherein at least one of the identifiersassociated with respective ones of the sub-packages is intentionallynon-functional.
 12. A method for authenticating a package havingidentifiers, said method comprising: reading the identifiers;identifying from an identifier indicator which of the identifiers isintentionally non-functional and visible to the naked eye whereinnon-functionality of the identifiers is indistinguishable to the nakedeye; comparing the read identifiers with the identities of intentionallynon-functional identifiers; and authenticating the package based uponthe comparison of the read identifiers and the identities of theintentionally non-functional identifiers.
 13. The method according toclaim 12, further comprising: outputting an indication that the packageis authentic in response to the identity of a non-functioning readidentifier substantially matching the identity of an intentionallynon-functional identifier.
 14. The method according to claim 12, furthercomprising: outputting an indication that the package is in authentic inresponse to the identity of a non-functioning read identifiersubstantially differing from the identity of an intentionallynon-functional identifier.
 15. The method according to claim 12, whereinthe identifier indicator is stored in a database, and whereinidentifying which of the identifiers is intentionally non-functionalfurther comprises accessing the database to retrieve the identity of theone or more identifiers that are intentionally non-functional.
 16. Themethod according to claim 12, wherein the identifier indicator is storedon the package, and wherein identifying which of the identifiers isintentionally non-functional further comprises interpreting theidentifier indicator to determine the identity of the one or moreidentifiers that are intentionally non-functional.
 17. The methodaccording to claim 12, wherein the package comprises a plurality ofsub-packages having identifiers, and wherein reading the identifiersfurther comprises reading the identifiers of the sub-packages.
 18. Themethod according to claim 17, wherein the identifier indicator includesinformation pertaining to a percentage of the identifiers of thesub-packages that are intentionally non-functional, and whereinauthenticating the package comprises comparing the percentage ofnon-functional identifiers from the road identifiers with the percentageof the intentionally non-functional identifiers.
 19. A systemcomprising: a plurality of means for storing information pertaining to apackage, wherein at least one of the means for storing information isintentionally non-functional and visible to the naked eye, and whereinnon-functionality of the at least one of the means for storinginformation is indistinguishable to the naked eye; means for identifyingwhich of the means for storing information is intentionallynon-functional; and means for storing the means for identifying.